Reflection by E. Elmore

[Robert Vaughn]

Hope everyone is enjoying a happy Memorial Day holiday! Anyone want to talk tunes?

Awhile back on Fasola Discussions, I asked about the tune REFLECTION (#394) by E. Elmore in The Sacred Harp, third edition. Wade Kotter found some biographical info which indicates this was Elijah Elmore, a Lutheran minister in and around Coweta County, GA. But we found nothing on the hymn. The tune was removed in 1870 never to return -- not even added back by James in the Original Sacred Harp. I found the tune and hymn interesting, and have come up with the attached arrangement of it. There were discords I didn't like, and the minor sixth used in prominent places (which I also didn't like). Apparently neither the 1870 SH committee nor the 1911 OSH committee liked it. I may be swimming upstream by reviving it, and may not have done that good of a job revising it. But I that the hymn was quite unique, and there was something about the tune I liked, too [maybe that it was minor ;-) ]

 

My revision is attached and Elmore's original can be found here:

http://archive.lib.msu.edu/AFS/dmc/ssb/public/all/sacredharp/harp393.jpg

Come youth and middle aged that walks the earthly stage and view this graven age -- I pray draw near; And see the change of things -- Time with his flying wings, the months and minutes bring, as you shall hear.

His glories sing, 

Robert Vaughn
Mount Enterprise, TX
http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com
Ask for the old paths, where is the good way
http://mtcarmelbaptist.blogspot.com
For ask now of the days that are past...
http://oldredland.blogspot.com
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

[invisibl...@gmail.com]

This song also caught my attention when it was brought up earlier.  It certainly has some unusual discords, which probably contributed to its lack of popularity.  Your arrangement seems to do a good job of conservatively straightening those out while keeping most of the song intact.  That being said, my dissonance-friendly mind would have kept a few more in there, such as the minor sevenths (bass la vs. treble sol) in measures 1 and 6.  That chord is not entirely unknown among popular Sacred Harp songs - Columbus and Save, Mighty Lord immediately come to mind.  Actually, now I see that you kept another minor seventh in measure 14, so maybe you were just trying to use them sparingly.  I also liked the original's treble sol in measure 7.  

I think Elijah Elmore would be pleased that his song attracted someone's attention 150 years later - and, who knows - after hearing both versions side by side, he might just have to concede that your tweaks are a bit more singable.  

Matt Bell

[Robert Vaughn]

Thanks, Matt. I appreciate your comments and contributions to discussing this tune. Interesting that it caught your attention as well. I was guessing the quantity of unusual discords contributed to the lack of popularity of the tune. This assumption may have caused me to be overly harsh in judging and removing them. (Not that I put an excessive amount of contemplation into it; a lot of what I do is spur of the moment.) Looking back over the tune with your comments in hand, I think that would revert back to the the treble sol/7 in measures 1 and 7. Looking at it apart of minor seventh, I like the approach of la/8 sol/7 to the la-fa-la in measure two. Also the sol-mi in measure seven spices it up a bit rather than more common la-mi-la that we can sing most any time.

 

In addition to a general interest in this particular tune, I think it's also a kind of neat exercise for composers to find some old SH tunes that have been "rejected", look for what's "wrong" with them, and then think about what you would have done differently. Of course, some songs weren't dropped for anything wrong with them, just that they weren't being sung and maybe no one knew how good they were!

 

His glories sing, 

Robert Vaughn
Mount Enterprise, TX
http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com
Ask for the old paths, where is the good way
http://mtcarmelbaptist.blogspot.com
For ask now of the days that are past...
http://oldredland.blogspot.com
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: "invisibl...@gmail.com" <invisibl...@gmail.com>
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, June 1, 2012 12:17 AM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 1095] Reflection by E. Elmore

[Wade Kotter]

I second Matt's comments and your response, Robert. This is indeed an interesting tune in many ways. Regarding tunes dropped from the book, a few years ago at Camp Fasola during a lesson/tribute to Hugh McGraw, we sang one of his tunes that was dropped, I believe, in 1971 or perhaps 1991. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the tune, but the consensus was that it was a great tune and we had no idea why it would have been dropped. Hugh's response was that they dropped it merely because it wasn't being sung, an example of humility we should all emulate. I'll try to track down the tune, but if Jesse, Aldous or Tom are reading this, perhaps they will chime in.

Wade

---

From: Robert Vaughn <rl_v...@yahoo.com>
To: "fasola-so...@googlegroups.com" <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, June 1, 2012 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 1096] Reflection by E. Elmore